Hello Goodbye

Hello Goodbye

Sorry for the absence again guys, but in the Christmas/pony camp rush, we have all been on the go constantly. The weather for pony camp has been truly abysmal and as per usual, as soon as the kids got in the car to go home, literally in that moment, the sun came out, and it has been bright and sunny ever since. What an absolute bummer! But we still had an awesome time though. On the last day Ali drove us all up to Forest Creek and we went on a four hour hike to the waterfalls. It was sooo beautiful and the forest felt like a real rainforest. I felt like I was in a Lara Croft game. Although, we found out later that somehow we had gone to the wrong waterfall, and the one we should have gone to was a huge one where we can swim....damn. But still, it was awesome! Had a great day. Saying goodbye to Stephan, Marli and Kasey was sad. They are all so full of life and bubbly in their own ways. They were hard work but I really was sad to see them go! And I cant believe how empty the house feels without them!

The Gitzner family with their donations for the school

But, living on a guest farm means that every time you are saying goodbye, you are inevitably saying hello to someone else. On the Friday that the kids all left camp, we were welcomed by the Gitzner family from Dubai! The Mum and Dad, Karin and Frederick, their nine year old daughter Gabriella, and Fredericks son, Armarie. They arrived late on the Friday night with their two friends and their two children, so a big group. Karin, Frederick, Gabriella, and Armarie are all here for three weeks, so they will be with us over Christmas and New Year! They are such a wonderful family, on the Saturday night they invited Edith and I to join them for a braii and we got to know eachother. Karin is a joburg girl and from South Africa, as are their friends, so I was very happy to hear them tell me that I had easily adopted a lot of the South African mannerisms. For example I always say “yar” instead of “yes”, I now use the phrase “aw shame” (very South African), if I am leaving I say “See you now now” (and as Edith says, saying this can technically mean “see you never”, haha), and if someone thanks you for anything I now say “pleasure”. I am also hand feeding my injured Rock Kestrel, Hope, every day, so I want to know what else I have to do before I get my South African Citizens badge, because you dont get more of a bush girlany where else!

But yes, the braii was beautiful, braii'd meat is honestly the best thing ever and it certainly was an improvement on the pasta I was going to make for us! The family are really awesome. Frederick works as a hotel manager, Karin works as a teacher, Armarie is studying Hospitality at Port Alfred here in South Africa, and Gabriella is of course at school haha. As Karin is a teacher, and since the whole family is very much into giving back to the community, they were very interested in the school and even brought all these fabulous paints, pencils, scissors, etc for the kids! Which was really lovely of them, and I am positive they will come in use.

And now on to the sad part of my blog. 1. Edith left the farm to go back to Germany this morning, and 2. last night, our goat Tammy (the goat that was shot in the jaw and therefore has her tongue sticking out) went into labour yesterday at 11am and at 9pm last night, exhausted nad knackered, she finally gave birth to her baby, which Ali had to pull out of her, but it was just too late and we lost the baby. So, Edith's last night was not the best one I have to say. It was just so terrible, we all thought that maybe she had had a fake pregnancy, because us and the Gitzner family sat for hours on Sunday watching her from a distance and nothing happened. But literally, the moment we all sat down for dinner last night, we heard the screams of Tammy coming from the stable and we all rushed out. Gosh, it was so sad. The baby was so perfect. But he was already gone before we could do anything. The labour was too long and exhausting for her. Poor Tammy, she was so tired that in between pushing she would fall asleep, but she cried for that baby, cleaning it, and nuzzling it, doing everything she could to get it to wake up. It was so heart breaking. It really was. At this very moment I am writing my blog from the stables where I am watching over her until Ali gets back from dropping Edith off at the Bushveld taxi. It is so sad to see her so distressed, crying for her little one....we are debating putting her in with the baby goats Uli and Rosie, since their mum died they have had to be surrogated onto other mums, who hate them. But we are hoping that Tammy might be so desperate to be able to mother something that she might go for it and it might offer her some comfort.

I can't believe Edith has gone. I really can't. One moment me and Ali were waiting for her and her family to arrive in the dark over at the cottage, and the next minute she is off and away. She was really one of the sweetest girls ever, always willing to lend a hand, always happy to help. And when I got to know her she was so hilarious as well, and I have to admit it, a much better pool player than me haha, although that isnt saying much as I suck at pool! But, seriously, where has this time gone. Where did those six weeks go? In fact, where has the last five months gone? Now I can see why people can do whole gap years away from home, I always thought that was too long, but now I see that the time just flies by.

In other news, our volunteer who was meant to be joining us for 8 weeks from 16^th January, Nadia, has dropped out of coming! Apparently South Africa has too much of a dodgy reputation. I mean I can understand it kind of, what with the fiasco of the interpreter the other day.....but still, I cant believe she isnt coming! I mean, we arent really in a lot of trouble since Ali is now emplying Ness, one of our kids Thando's mother, to come work at the school, and the next volunteer Karna arrives the day after I leave. So, essentially, it doesnt matter, but I am a bit concerned that I wont have any time with any volunteer to show them the timetable and system that we work to here. I may have to start writing a guide for Karina so that she has something to follow when she is lost, because all the volunteers have been taught by the previous volunteer, so it is a bit of a bummer that I get no time with them, but never mind! Que sera sera! Everything happens for a reason right ?

So, all in all, that is the news from here on the Lydenrust farm. Tomorrow we have Ali's daughter Noogs arriving with her dog for the Christmas festivities, we have the staff Christmas party on Thursday, Danie arrives from Dubai on Friday, and I think his son Toni arrives next Monday with his girlfriend Charlene. So it is going to be a busy week of hectic comings and goings with lots of Christmas activities going on and people coming home. I have six weeks left on the farm. I hope it goes slower than Edith's six weeks.....Lekker Slaap everyone, sweet dreams xxxxx

pony camp continued...

Monday

So, I said I would up date you all on what happened yesterday. Well, first of all I took Stephan and Kasey out on a little ride to build up their confidence. I took Kasey in the ring first and got her to practice walking and controlling the horse. She was riding Duncan and man he was being na ughty for her. Horses know when there is an inexperienced rider on their backs, and boy do they play up to it! He was being very naughty and lazy, but as soon as I got on him he behaved! In the words of one of our kids, Liesbeth, “naughty pony!”. Anyway, after the ring work we headed out on our little ride round the forest. Marley went with Edith and Ali because she has a lot more confidence on horse back. But I was very proud of my two, they trotted and everything without any screams haha.

After, we decided to take the dogs out and stopped off at the big dam on the mountain where we swam with the dogs, it was so much fun! I jumped in so many times, swam to the bottom and did handstands in the water. It was like being a kid again, messing around in the water. And the dogs loved it, they were having a whale of a time! When we had swam all we could, we came back and we set up the tents for our evenings camping. I am so proud of my awesome tent making ability! I have found my calling in life, and it is setting up tents! I didnt need any help and I didnt need to call Ali for any help muhahaha. I may suck at DIY and painting, but I knew there was a master outdoorsman inside of me ! After I made lunches for everyone ready for our hike up to the top of the mountain overshadowing the Lydenrust Farm. We headed up and unfortunately Marleys knee started hurting so Marley and Kasey headed back after our little lunch by the graveyard and me, Edith, and Stephan headed up. Man it was hard! The climb up there at the end is a killer on the legs! Stephan wanted to turn back a lot but Edith and I started singing “I like to move it, move it” from Madagascar at the top of our lungs until he either a. got motivated, or b. was so disturbed by our voices that he decided to keep going! Haha, probably the latter....

But boy, it was worth it! The view from the top was incredible! And the best is yet to come! When we reached the top, Edith looked down and was all shocked, I came over to see what she was talking about and she had found an injured Rock Kestrel! It was so beautiful! There was definitely something wrong and so I decided to catch it, which I did, with great success and we discovered it had an injured wing and could not fly. So, we headed down the mountain and showed Ali. We took him to a falconer near by and we found out that a vet would cost R8,2OO to try and fix the wing and that in most cases, the bird wont survive. So we got advice about what the bird eats and we took him back to the farm and put him into the aviary, where he still is now. I have been feeding him ever since on raw chicken. He has really gotten into it and he is such a beautiful bird. I wistle to him when I feed him and he doesnt nip my fingers at all, he just takes the meat! I feel like I am in the world of Harry potter, and this is now my letter carrier, like Hedwig haha, I am so cool!

In the evening we had a lekker braii at Brumby House with chicken and sausage while playing Battleship, Mastermind, and pool. It was so friggen cool, except when it came to start camping and it began chucking it down with rain....and suddenly no one wanted to camp any more! I was all for staying and toughing it but the rain got even worse and eventually even Stephan and I gave in and trudged back to the house. I have to admit, a warm comfy bed with dry pillows was a lot more appealing than a half flooded tent..... And thus the end of Monday arrived. I slept like an absolute log, as soon as my head touched the pillow I was out for the count!

Tuesday

I was out for the count last night, but ohhhhh I did not want to get out of bed this morning! Although, I was surprisingly full of energy after my coffee. The weather was terrible, and has remained so ALL day! It is like God wants us to have a bad pony camp because the weather clears up and goes back to sunny on Friday.....when pony camp ends! Grggggrrrrr! But it didnt stop us from heading out on a ride this morning. Just for a little walk, but still, we got out there regardless! After, Ali said that because of the weather we were going to have a road trip, to try and drive out of this bad weather and go somewhere nice. So we packed our lunches and headed out to the house that looked like a shoe, and the echo caves! It was such a nice day, it really was. We drove and drove and eventually came to our first pit stop where we had an ice cream and visited this awesome shop which sold wood furniture, which sounds boring but the stuff was so incredible! They had this table that takes a whole year to make out of one piece of wood. But it cost R12O,OOO which is around £8,OOO in English money! That is absolutely insane, especially if you could see where this shop was! It is in this little town, populated by poor farmers who earn R1,OOO a month, and the town constitutes of a garage, a police station, and a very pretentious furniture shop. Although, I have said that if I win the lottery that I will buy Ali the table haha.

After we headed to the Shoe, which was cool but it was a bit weird, and slightly creepy as it was filled full with old dolls which always creep me out....and oddly, even though the place was very religious with pictures of Jesus everywhere, it had a very graphic naked sculpture of a naked woman in the bedroom, which was just a little bit strange! Needless to say we didnt stay for long, but it was fun.

After, we went to the Echo caves which were soooo cool! They were used as a hide out by these tribespeople to hide from the Swazis and we were shown all the graveyards, kitchens and bedrooms, and the alarm section. If you hit the rock with a hammer, the sound travels for miles.

And this evening we are having another pool tournament and the kids want to try camping again but we will see how that goes......because the rain is getting even harder! I am so tired now so I will update you all tomorrow, Lekker Slaap everyone xxxxxx

Mountain climbing and Kestrel rescue!

Hope, our injured Rock kestrel, we found her at the top of the mountain ! She is soo awesome!

Hello! Oh my gosh I am once again so tired! But the good kind of tired after a really good, action packed day. I cant say much as I have a bunch of kids who are this moment camping oover at Brumby House as we speak, and if I leave them for too long, who knows what they will do, or burn down, or break!

We have had such a busy day, we have had trail rides, mountain climbs, braii, and tonight we are camping! It has been so good and I promise I will write about it all tomorrow when I have set them up with a movie and I can slip away to write this bad boy. Lekker Slaap all, I know I am going to be sleeping like a log haha xxxx

And pony camp begins!

Well, so much for my plan of writing my blog earlier! But we have been SO busy today that there just wasnt time! The kids arrived very early! Me and Edith hadnt even finished our morning ride and they were already here! Ah, my morning ride is literally my favourite moment of the day. When I take my baby pocket rocket Blue out, and we go to the gallop strip and we just tear up that strip like a racehorse and jockey. It is honestly the most freeing and wonderful moment, it really is ! And the weather at the moment is so lekker for riding, lovely and cool !

 pony camp gang! Me, Edith, Stephan, Marley, and Kasey! <3

Anyway, after our awesome ride, we arrived back at the stables to find Stephan, Marley, and Kasey all here and ready for pony camp action! We let the horses out and started our day! We began with changing into our costumes, taking the dogs for a walk and going for a swim in the big dam. Ah it was so much fun swimming around, but oh my gosh I am not swimming fit! None of us were! We were all knackered after a few lengths and had to get out and go home haha but back at the house we returned to the dam in the garden and hung around there on the surf boards and rubber rings in the sun. Ah it was so nice. And the kids are so awesome! Kasey I have met before a couple of times, and she is the sweetest, most lovely girl ever. And the twins are awesome! Marley is so cool and Stephan is hilarious! He has had me laughing literally all day, he is such a character! Especially when we asked him where England was and he asked if it bordered with Dubai. Ali responded with "yes, England borders Dubai and Zimbabwe". Ah I thought I was going die to laughing at him. We even got the Atlas out to teach him where all the countries were. The best moments were when he thought Sweden was in America, and that Italy was India haha! So now we have decided that instead of pony camp, Edith and I must start running school with them.....especially with focus on Geography!

Stephan on Scotty, and me on my baby Blue !

After the swimming we decided to do a hike up the mountain to visit the time capsule, but we got a quarter of the way up the hill and they were all knackered! Mainly because they all came from Joburg and had been up since 3am! So we had a picnic on the hill and we are going to do the hike tomorrow instead. During the hike though, we encountered a black and red grasshopper. Now, I should have known not to have listened to city kids, but Stephan told us all that this was a poisonous grasshopper, a deadly poisonous grasshopper, so in the end I had to kill it to calm them all down. I later found out that this was a perfectly harmless grasshopper, so I feel really bad about executing a sentient being....I have to say, I said a few words in sadness for the poor grasshopper!

 Keeping it natural.....

Strike a pose ladies!

Then we watched a film and sat and chatted until it was time to get the horses ready for the first ride of pony camp. Well, it didnt go well because we were out for 2minutes and a thunder storm came rolling in and we had to high tail it home! Oh well! We will try for tomorrow morning and see how it goes!

And in the evening we just had Alis famous Coca Cola Chicken and chatted until bed time! It has been tiring but a really fun day! I cant wait for the rest of pony camp! Lekker Slaap all! xxxx

Lets make sports

Today has been my day of getting out and being active. One of the best things about being here, I have to say, is getting back in touch with the notion of making your own fun. As corny as that sounds, it is actually a lot of fun to do basic things again like hikes, horse riding, running etc. I got up and it was so dull and dark! I am loving the weather for sports, lovely and cool, but I am not loving the constant threat of rain and the overcast, depressing look it puts on everything! But, apparently it is here for another week.....lucky us!

Tomorrow is the start of pony camp! We have three kids coming in, twins Stephan and Marley, and Ali and Danies Granddaughter Kasey. I am so excited to have them here and for all the activities we will be doing! It should be such a fun week!

But yes, a busy day of exercise. I am sorry i dont have alonger post, i feel like I have been neglecting my blog a bit! I think it is because I write it at the very end of the day when my brain is like mush. Tomorrow i shall write it earlier on and get a more comprehensive writing going on! Lekker Slaap all xxxx

"I am sorry, thats my Zulu name"

In Zulu, you have your Zulu name and your English name. Now, todays comedy moment came from Edith, attempting to use Ali's credit card in Spar and having to sign for it. She didnt realise you could sign any name and panicked when she started to write "Edith" instead of "Ali". Don't worry though, she had a great excuse. "Ah, I am sorry, Edith is my Zulu name". LMAO! Best excuse for credit card fraud ever hahahaha Ah it was brilliant. 

This of course occured during our weekly town trip to get the groceries. We headed out super early and despite this, we didnt even get back to the farm until 2pm! We also had to pick up some school stuff donated by the Lydenbubrg Junior school, which was really kind of them. They were clearing out their old stuff to make way for the new and we got all the old stuff. It was very thoughtful, although, the old copy of the Yellow pages went to our farm worker Little George. Ali just saw the Yellow pages and said "George, there is a book here for you to smoke" haha. I laughed so much, you see, apparently they use the yellow pages as great paper for their cigarettes. Ah it was funny. 

So, when we got back from town we had all the sorting to do and figuring out what went where. Until it was time for animals when Edith and I went on a trial ride, and we came back to find that one of the goats horns had completely come off! His brain is exposed and everything! Truly horrible! He had been fighting with Jack the other male goat, and all we can do now is hope he lasts the night until Ali can get into town and get him an injection pain killer. poor thing, he must be in agony!

poor thing, anyway, it is really late and I have accidentally wasted most of time on Facebook haha! Lekker Slaap all night night xxxx 

Tears at party time.

Today has flown by, it has been quite a day. Today was the kids Christmas party at Spur. And I didnt expect it to be as emotional and highly charged as it was.
But, from the beginning, I awoke rather early this morning to M.J the rooster at my door crowing into my room....I have had alarm calls from Baby the cat before, but this is a first on the rooster front. He was brought in last night to keep him out of the storm and I have to say, I can see why farmers never sleep in, because it is impossible to sleep through the crowing of those things!

The home made stockings for the kids, made by Lindie and Mené Welgemoed!

 As I was up early anyway, I put the spare time to good use and packed up the bakkie with all the Christmas boxes for the kids and starting taking the horses temperatures so we had a head start on the day. We were so worried at first because everyone was saying that Liesbeth, one of our students, would not be coming as she didnt know about the party. So we were all distraught, thinking she was missing her Christmas party when she turned up. I actually really miss the kids so when we headed off to town, I volunteered to ride in the back with them, just so I could have some more time in their company. I kind of realised today how much they are my world now. When we arrived in town, one of the kids realised I was ticklish on my feet and suddenly all of them were attacking me and tickling me and I was laughing hysterically trying to get them to stop. They seemed to think it was lots of fun seeing teacher Rosie in fits haha.

 Grace and Maggi

The girls with their preschool graduation certificates and teddies!

When we arrived at Spur, we found Lindie, Johnnie, J.L, Leonard, and Mené, all waiting for us! They are such a wonderful family and had organised loads of presents for the kids which they had bought. So, they joined us in the play area and we all enjoyed watching them play. Well, I say I watched, it was more me playing just as much as them. The best thing about kids is that you can do all the crazy childlike stuff that you miss from your childhood, without looking weird. For example, I was running round like a lunatic with the kids today, going round and round and round on the slides, doing races to the top and making pile ups, which would have been really weird if I wasnt there with kids, but since I was, I am just viewed as the awesome teacher haha, little do they know I was having a great time myself lol

percy, the little charmer, who decided to wink at us all all day haha 

The kids with their Christmas blankets!

The kids all had their cool drink, chips and ice cream, which melted SO fast. In the end, Thando came up to me with her spit and slobbered covered soggy cone and gave it to me saying she was "sharing" with me. I just eyed it up and smiled and thanked her haha. I promptly put it in the bin..... But oh my gosh, they were so excited! We had present opening, and face painting, and of course, the kids got to visit their favourite attraction! THE HAND DRYER! hahahahhaha oh man, those kids were washing and re drying their hands constantly....so sweet.

 Liesbeth and I

Charlotte, carrying her Xmas presents home <3 such a cutie !

When it was time to go, I realised that, due to news we had had this morning, which was about the fact that Liesbeth will now be living in town with her mama from now on and will not be returning to school, it really hit me when Ali said I should say goodbye when we dropped her off as it could be the last time we all saw her. From day one I have loved Liesbeth. She is the happiest, most dramatic, crazy, animated, loving little girl there is. And when I hugged her to say goodbye, I just burst into tears. I couldnt help it, I just cried and cried, I tried not to and I had to pretend to the kids that I was sick and had hayfever. I was just so upset. Even though I still have two months left on the farm, it really hit me that with the holidays, and many of the kids going to big school, I may never see some of them again. And it hit sooo hard, it was horrible. My whole life for the past four and a bit months, has been those children. I know every single one, I know which jersey belongs to who, I can tell who is crying even if I cant see them, I know when they are sad or happy, I know each of their personalities like the back of my hand.....and to think that in such a short time, soon they will just be a memory is upsetting. To think that I have to go back into a life that doesnt include them truly hurts. I tried not to let how upset I was show, I didnt want to ruin their happy day, so I just sat with them and appreciated the time we had.

 Happy Girls <3

Saying goodbye is never easy.....Love you Liesbeth....

I love these kids more than anything now, and I really never thought I would ever say that about kids. But to me, they are my kids. When I go home, I will be so happy to see my family and friends, but leaving and saying goodbye to these kids, to the life I have here, is going to be one of the hardest things I will ever have to do. I was sobbing from saying goodbye to one child today, I dont even want to think of what I will be like when I have to say goodbye to everything......But, I will put that to the back of my mind, and appreciate the time I do have here, Christmas is around the corner, and 2O14 will be here before you know it. Lekker slaap all, sweet dreams xxxxx

Clear out

Hey, sorry I havent blogged, but for some reason, my blogger account kept saying it had been logged out from a different place, and then whenever I tried to post what I had written it just wouldnt. And when i tried to reload, it lost my whole post. I was very much unamused! Anyway, so I guess I need to update you all on the goings on! Well, on Monday Edith, Ali and I all took a trip to Nelspruit to do our Christmas shopping. Since we have the kids Christmas party, pony camp, guests, Ali and Danies family coming in, etc, this was literally the only day up to Christmas that we had to get off the farm and get some of it done. I am very proud to say that I actually got all my presents and I only had three nervous break downs! I mean, I love shopping malls and I love shopping....but for me....not others. I hate trying to find presents for people on a budget, if I had lots of money then I would have been great and gotten wonderful gifts, but all that said, I think I got some really nice things. I even wrapped all my gifts last night as well! Talk about organised! I am mucho proud of myself! I cant believe Christmas is just over three weeks away! How crazy is that! I just dont believe it is Christmas, it cant be Christmas when I can sunbathe in a bikini. It has to be cold and snowy !

Anyway, at Nelspruit, poor Ali didnt really do any of the fun side of shopping, as she has done her back in when she tried to move a bed and had to go to hospital to get pain meds and an xray. Luckily it looks like a muscular problem, but it didnt make her day any better! And, me and Edith are gutted because we realised on the way BACK home, that we could have gone to the cinema and seen the new Hunger Games film! Soooo devastated I didnt think about that! Gutted! But I guess that would have defeated the idea of spending the day thinking of others! So maybe for the best!

Today, we have had a massive clear out of the house in preparation of the Xmas festivities and I am proud to say that we have made the house spotless. I am very proud of having alphabetized the DVD collection! Haha! But Ali has pushed herself too far and her back hurts some more! In the afternoon Edith and I had a bit of a road trip and dropped off some things from the clear out to the village close to us. I saw some of our kids and I miss them! Little patience came running up to me and hugged me, it was so sweet! I also thought it was hilarious that she always comes to school in immaculate clothes, with polished hair and looking complete, but today her hair was wild and she had mucky t shirt and shorts on. She is still the cutest thing on the planet. I am sure her parents would be OK with me bringing her home....totally....

Then we had to head into town to get some pigeon food. I am so proud of myself, I was on the verge of breaking and buying cigarettes, I SO wanted to smoke it was insane. But, I was very good, and I bought a magazine instead haha

Oooo and tomorrow we have the special party at Spur for the kids! And the Welgemoeds are coming to give them their presents as well, I am so excited. I plan on sliding and playing more than the kids will. Eeeeee, very excited to see them all, and to see their faces when they get their presents! I will upload photos so you can see as well! Lekker Slaap all! xxxxxx

Busy busy busy

Ohhhhhh, what a busy day! I am in full scale farm mode and I have been on a mission. I went on a ride this morning with Edith on Blue and Danny. Ahhh, Blue is so much fun to ride, I was having a ball tearing around the countryside on him this morning! It was so much fun! And it was so beautiful today! We had 94% chance of thunder storms, but quite frankly, the weather man lies through his teeth, because it has been sunny and beautiful all day ! Then it was a dog walk round the forest, then another ride with Ramon and Scotty, doing a bit f road work with them to get them fit for pony camp!

Then it was lunch, and a run for me, where I realised that this mornings excursions have left me horribly sunburnt....oh the pain! I have afterunned myself up to my eyeballs to try and stop the inevitable red, then peel, then white, viscious circle! Urg it is horrible. And then of course, since it is the weekend, we had absolutely no staff to help, so Ali, Edith and I had to run round and get all the animals done by ourselves. This is why we all dread month end! Everyone is drunk and no one comes to work!

But after all this, I am exhausted and i want a nice early night to recharge my muscles to do it all again tomorrow! Oh! And it is actually December tomorrow! Christmas is almost on top of us as we speak! We are all off to do our Christmas shopping on Monday in Nelspruit, as it is the only day we can organise to be off the farm to get it done. Very excited! And, tomorrow, we will have the pictures up again! New month, and new internet! Hurrah! Lekker Slaap all, I am knackered! xxxx

Shocks all round

OK, well, I am sorry I didnt blog yesterday but we had a huge storm and bucket full of rain that continued into this morning. Well, the biggest news to bring to you is quite horrible. Cade, our bottle fed lamb, who was to become the stud ram for the sheep was found dead yesterday. No one could find him, we thought he had been stolen and eaten, but eventually the guys located his body in the outdoor toilet.
We are all still, so shocked. We have no idea how he died. We dont know if he was trampled by the other sheep when the storm hit and they all tried to cram in there, or whether he was bitten by a snake, we just dont know. I am so shocked that he is gone. It was horrible this morning going out onto the farm with Chloes bottle and not hearing him bleat. I have heard him crying for his bottle in the mornings for four and a half months, this morning was the first it has ever been silent. It was horrible. So, r.i.p Cade, we will miss you so much.

It is hard to try and be cheery and write something else after that, but in other news, today was the last day of school, and now the Xmas holidays have begun. We still have our field trip on Wednesday, but the big kids will all be going to big school now, and the next time I do day of the week, or letter of the day, will be on January 15th 2O14! With a whole heap of new kids and a new school year. I wish our kids all the best for their futures, and I know they will do wonderfully, they have all made such huge leaps in progress over the past few months, and it has been a joy to watch them develop. A few of the highlights have got to be seeing Jane go from scribbling a picture completely in black to carefully colouring a picture in various colours with not a single smidgen outside of the lines. Another, is Oupa, who couldnt even hold a pencil, not only being able to write his letters, but being able to circle the correct letter when asked in an activity. Seeing Chris and the look on his face when he realised he had won the first colouring competition, and being there to see Sara for her Birthday party, seeing Siyabonga in a suit, teaching the older girls how to add up and truly seeing them get it, FINALLY getting percy to know that "p" is for percy", sitting with Uli in the sun and watching the kids make a house out of the tables and chairs, seeing their faces when they saw Spur on our field trip and seeing them so happy as they played, hearing them all chant that Danie was "The Headmaster", watching them put on my make up that I brought in for them to play with. Ah, there have been so, so, so many lovely moments with them, I am really gonna miss and cherish the times I have had with those kids. They are really special <3

In other news, we alsoo had a cake today which went down very well with all the kids. They always get so excited when they get cake, and they seem to savour every mouthful, honestly, I have seen some of them eat one slice for over half an hour before! We had a lovely relaxed day with colouring, puzzles and play time, which was slightly interuppted by the rain we got AGAIN! But, it was a nice last day I have to say. What am I going to do with my time now! I think the dogs are gonna get a lot of walks, and the horses ridden a lot now me thinks!

OH! And I have completed the three day hump challenge of no smoking! I am over and clear of the first 72 hours and I think i can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel! I no longer feel like death warmed up. I think i might actually be able to do this! So, all in all, life at Rehab la Lydenrust is going well, and now we are onto the push before Christmas! Can you believe it is like three and a half weeks away! I certainly cant. it doesnt even feel close! But that is probably because I spend Christmas in the cold and dark in England, so it just feels unnatural to be in a Christmassy mood when it is hot enough for a bikini!

Haha, anyway, I gotta sleep, busy day tomorrow. Lekker Slaap all! xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lydenrust Rehab

I have officially turned Lydenrust into my personal rehab centre and given up smoking. I have only been a smoker this time round for 6months, thanks to the stress of finishing my degree made me start again after being smoke free for over two years. Now, I realise why I always told myself that I would never quit....because it is SO hard. I am up and down as often as a rollercoaster. It is not the best feeling. I am up to 3O hours no smoking, and I am just at the stage where I feel like I want to kill all living things.

I think Ali may have sensed this when she sent me to go work with Salan and the pigeons today for a couple of hours instead of school, I think he reckoned the pressure of screaming kids might be just a tad too much for me at this stage....she may have been right. But, I did enjoy the methodical task of writing the pigeon numbers down and counting them up. It was quite soothing in a way haha. Next we headed into town to do our grocery shopping. I am very proud of myself, I didnt buy any cigarettes, even though I could have. All power to me!

Also, apologies for no blog yesterday, I was in full on quit mode and all I would have written would have been "I want nicotine, I want nicotine". But, at least I am here, so the only way I can cheat if if I start trying to smoke the leaves or something. All I can say is that this feeling better go away soon!

In the actual news of the farm, I have very little to update you all on, except that we have just TWO days of school left in the year before the Xmas holidays! I cant believe it! We have a treasure hunt planned for Friday where we take pictures of different places on the farm and they follow the picture to the next clue until they finally reach the picnic site and a cake is waiting for them. It should be a really fun day ! We are also going for a leavers field trip on Wednesday. But, man, I am going to miss them! I dont know what I am going to do without them. They drive me crazy, but they are my kids, I actually love all of them, it is going to be so strange not to teach them every day, and it is going to be really emotional saying goodbye to Grace, Sara, Charlotte, Maggi, Chris, Oupa, and Magdaline. Now that will be hard....

We also had an issue with one of the baby goats. Dion, from the twins Joy and Dion, was behaving vry strangely, so we brought him into the house last night to beemer and look after, Ali even gave him a penicillin injection and he didnt move a muscle, even though usually they scream. We thought it was so strange, but today he seemed as happy as larry. Very peculiar! All we can assume is, is that the shot and the beemer did the trick, and he is back with his mummy today!

Anyway, I am gonna go to bed and try and get some sleep. Tomorrow, according to my reading, all the nicotine will be officially out of my body. Oh goody! haha! Lekker Slaap all. pray for me, I am going to need to it. xxxxx

"Mam, Chris, kick goat!"

Ahhhh! I have had the worst headache today! It was horrible! probably from pepsi max deprivation, but it didnt go away until around 4pm today. I spent most of the afternoon asleep to try and shake it off. Thankfully it has gone back to wherever it came from and I am free of its painful horribleness!

We had a good day at school, except for my headache, which just left me rubbing my head all day. The highlight was probably when Oupa came down to the staff table at break. I had my head on the desk, trying to block out the light and he just went "mam, mam" and I just grunted "what Oupa". And he replied with "Mam, mam, Chris, kick goat". I couldnt help but laugh. I had to tell Chris off but it did amuse me I have to say.

Oh, and I must apologise for calling the jeep "Blow Bull", I have been in big trouble with Danie, I have been told that the car does not blow anything and that it is either "Blue Bull" or "Blou Bul" So, to the Afrikaans rugby fans, I am very sorry for not getting the right spelling..... I AM SORRY! This reminds me of when I took a picture of the pigeons and said they were Danies racing pigeons, he was very mad. And he took me out the next day and said they were Alis fat pigeons who cant even walk, never mind fly hahaha ah so funny.

So, all in all that is all we have to say at the minute. Mainly coz I slept the whole day haha. But tomorrow shall be more exciting I am sure!

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening !

Hey guys! Sorry for the catch up again! I just wanted to conserve the internet we have so we can last till the end of the month! Can you believe Christmas is so close! I can not believe we only have like four weeks until Christmas day! We have so much to get organised it is insane! We have one and a half weeks of school left, and then it is straight into pony camp, plus full house on guests, then before we know it, Ali and Danies family will be here for Xmas! I have already volunteered to give up my room and go sleep in a tent in the garden. I love camping so it doesn't bother me! I could sleep in the classroom, that would be cool haha! Anyway, so yeah, we are trying to have Christmas ready and done now, because we just aren't going to have time in December!

Today we went to visit the Welgemoeds for lunch. Oh my goodness, it was so good! Lindie is the best cook ever! She makes this amazing pumpkin dish with caramel sauce that is just amazing! It took all my self control not to lick the plate clean and ask for more. And her cookie and ice cream dessert was awesome! It was so delicious i cannot tell you! Very traditional South African meal! Very nice! It was a lot like an English Sunday dinner, only they have rice as well as potatoes, and other delicious things like the sweet pumpkin or potato! Sooooo good! Never thought I would be someone who asked for recipes but I am most definitely going to be getting a few off Lindie! I cannot go back to England without taking them home with me! It was such a lekker day though, we chilled by the pool and chatted, and we all had a contest to see who could bench press and leg lift the heaviest with Leonard's home gym! I am very proud to say that although Johnnie was the best by far, I was a close second! I have arms of steel I tell you! But yes, it was so good! It was nice to get off the farm for a little bit, haha, we even got all dressed up and everything. Showered, clean clothes, the lot! We like to make an effort !

Other than today, we have got plans to do our pothole photo shoot very soon! We have an idea to go to the main road off the farm and use one of the potholes as a prop, making it into a bath, with me in a bikini, shower cap, and rubber duck, that we can send to the paper as a campaign to get the government to fix the roads. We plan on making me "pothole girl" with the slogan "Splash or Crash?". It should be fun, I cant wait to see all the drivers faces as they see a bikini clad girl climbing out of a pothole clutching her rubber duck! Who knows, this could be the campaign that changes the political face of South Africa! or maybe not.....but we can dream!

In other news, Edith and I have decided to start keep fit and lose weight. We have decided to make Lydenrust our own personal bootcamp sanctuary. We will look like models by the end of our stay! So......maybe I shouldn't get that recipe off Lindie for that delicious pumpkin......tough call. At least on a farm you cant run to Mcdonalds when you feel like breaking.....But there are a lot of tasty chickens running around.....if one of them were to go missing.....surely they wouldn't be missed....

I am getting better at driving Blow Bull, well, I say I am getting better, but on Friday I was trying to get the tank out of the new gate that George put up and I was yelling at Charlotte over the sound of the engine going "CHARLOTTE, HOW CLOSE AM I TO THE POST !" and Grace was at my side going "mam, mam, just go straight, straight, straight, straight". And when I actually managed to get through, they all cheered. Hmmmmm I need to practice more when six year olds need to help me how to drive.....

And that is all folks! We are nearly at the end of the month so we will have pictures back up very soon in December! I know how dull it can be when you dont have pictures to look at, so I appreciate all of you that are still reading despite the visual deprivation! Lekker Slaap all! I think tomorrow is going to be a good day! xxxxxx

Where do the days go?

I am sitting here wondering where the day has gone! One minute I was getting up, the next it is time for dinner and winding down for the next day.
We have had the rain of all rains. It started last night and continued until this afternoon, just constant rain. EVERYWHERE is like a mud slide. Absolute chaos! Which all began when trying to get the kids....we got to the pick up point for them OK, but on the way back we just spun round and ended up completely stuck. I tried to use my manly muscles to push us out, but Blow Bull weighs more than an elephant, so needless to say I didnt make much of a difference. So, Ali and I just had to wait for George to arrive in the tractor to come and pull us out, he was laughing, and the kids thought it was hilarious.

By the time we finally reached school, we only had six kids for the day, which was a very intimate little class and we actually had a really great day. We coloured, did puzzles, played with playdo and modelling clay, read a book, and did letter of the day and day of the week. All the kids were very cold though. I hate how cold it is today! 19 degrees! FREEZING GUYS! Haha, and I just read about England having 1OO days of snow, haha, I should count my blessings and take the 19 degrees....

Despite the rain, we battled through and actually managed to get into town to do our weekly grocery shopping. I have discovered that Edith and I have exact opposite tastes in food, for one, she hates doughnuts! Who hates doughnuts? And she hates mint ice cream, which is my favourite. She also does not like sweet potatoes, where I love them, and I cannot stand full cream milk and yet she loves it. I have decided she is weird and our friendship must end now haha. Anyway, I am going to go and cook dinner, I really dont have any other news for today. Night night, Lekker Slaap xxxx

Gogo Nkulu

Hello Yellow Mongoose readers! Today has been a lovely day. It all kicked off with a trail ride Edith and I did with Blue and Danny. Blue is my new favourite ride, he is the prettiest little pony that reminds me of Merrylegs from Black Beauty. And he looks just like the horse from War Horse. He is such fun to ride! Apart from when the horses got a spook and I ended up in a tree.....BUT I stayed on, which is the important thing!

After it was time for school, it had a great energy today, and all the kids seemed in a great mood. Shame, it broke my heart because after the past couple of days, Liesbeth has been so down, yesterday she told me that her house had no food, and she was hungry. Today, she was full of life and the first thing she said was that her house now had yogurts, bread and coca cola. My heart really did melt for her. She is such a sweet little girl, I hope things at home get better for her. I really do. But she was in a much better mood today, back to her usual self of imitating me like a parrot and ordering the other kids about ! We did colouring today, education time, puzzles and face painting today. Oh my gosh, they LOVED the face painting. Although it was very hard to work my limited artistic magic when they wouldnt keep their heads still, so some of the "hearts" look a bit questionable. They looked so cute!

The kids are getting so smart, as I have said many times, I wish I could cram as much into them as I can before big school starts for them. I am so worried about them, it is going to be a huge transition for them, going from a class of 13 where they are special, and hitting is forbidden, to a class of 9O where they are beaten often with a cane. I hope the teachers can see the potential in our kids and give them help. They are all really special and some of them could really go far. I reckon Charlotte and Grace could go to University. I hope they get that chance. I wish they were just staying with us.....This school can teach them way more than that other school, which is evidenced by the fact that Michael and Emma who left for grade one last year have failed and will be repeating the year now. They will be now in the same year as our little ones, and I have met Michael and Emma, they are the sweetest kids ever, but our ones are lightyears ahead!

After school we had to rush into town because the tractor had packed in and ran out of petrol at the top of the fields, so we went in and grabbed a sandwich. Man, I love town so much haha, but it is always nice to return home to the quiet safety of the farm. Town is good in small doses haha. Then this evening, Edith and I power ran to our usual place and then i walked the dogs in the cool night air. It was fish for tea and now I need a bath, and perhaps some Ugly Betty before bed. Lekker Slaap all xxxxxxxxxx

Zombie

Today has been a distinctly blah day for me after the fun weekend. I didn’t sleep great and woke up feeling like a bit of a zombie. The baby goat Liam is still on house watch. Ali has managed to get a couple of hundred mills of milk into him but the poor thing just doesn’t seem to have the sucking ability. He is still so weak. He is in the house again tonight, cuddled up to the stuffed toy cat that belonged to Socke when she was ill. Fingers crossed in the next few days he gets a grasp of it and starts taking in more food, he really must be starving.

In other goat news, Kayla and Chloe’s mum had twin baby girls today! Donna, our past volunteer, named them Shyla and Sweetie. Well, they are definitely very sweet! Such sweet little babies! Baby goats are definitely my new favourite thing in the world, they bounce and jump, and spring like there is no tomorrow! If Uli was still here I would have some actual pictures of them to show you, she always had such wonderful pictures, but I just don’t have the patience to sit in that goat pen and wait for that perfect moment like she did. Also, I just want to say, Chloe is still on the bottle, being bottle fed twice a day.....her mum just had new babies which would mean definite weaning, and she is most likely pregnant herself. Ali bottle fed her cow Dougal for a whole year, and he still eats calf pellets haha. I am going to have a serious sit down talk with Chloe and discuss the matter with her, that she is a grown up princess now and she must forage with the other goats haha.

I am going to have to start riding every morning, I have neglected Mr Bones my horse for far too long. I rode him almost every day, but I have been so lazy and haven’t ridden him for over a month now....I don’t know why I have such a mental block on it, but I am going to try and pull myself out of it and get myself out on him tomorrow morning to see how he goes. I will, I will!

This morning however was, as I said, a lazy morning, due to me feeling like I was on deaths door step, and it took three strong black coffees to finally perk me up and make me feel human again.

School was nice today, although I felt terrible for little Liesbeth. At break time she just sat at the table with me while I had my coffee (the third coffee) and wouldn’t play. So I asked her:

Me - “Liesbeth whats wrong?”

Liesbeth- “......”

Me- “Are you sleepy?”

Liesbeth- *silence *

Me- “ Are you sad?”

Liesbeth- * nods *

Me- “Were the other kids mean or hit you?”

Liesbeth- “No”.

Me- “What about Mama and papa?”

Liesbeth- *nods *

Me- “Did mama and papa hit you?”

Liesbeth- *nods and starts to cry *

She spent the rest of the break on my knee with her head on my shoulder cuddling me. I felt so sad for her, she really did cry and was so upset about it. I dont know what had gone on at home but whatever it was, it really affected her. These kids are so rough and tumble that most things, even if they are upsetting, they forget about it five minutes later, but this was something that had really distressed her for a while. I just wanted to hug her all day and bring her home.

Other than Liesbeth being in the wars, we had a good day. My education time with the bigger kids went well, they are actually grasping what adding up is, and it was so cute to see them figuring the math problems out that I had given them. They are getting so smart! Edith had the little kids and she got them all to make Christmas Angels with paint and colouring pencils. They looked really cute actually. At the end we had the cars and toy animals out and had a play with them.

In the afternoon I made more education papers up for the kids and took the dogs for a walk. Although, I couldn’t go far since there seems to be a storm threatening, but it has been threatening all afternoon which means I cant run, cycle or walk because there is always the threat of it hitting, which is soooo annoying! Stupid storms......go away!

Anyway, this evening is chillaxed as always, I made pasta for Edith and Ali, and I plan on a lot of Ugly Betty tonight to compensate for the lack of running! Only 12 days of school left until the holidays! I don’t know if it makes me a bad teacher that I am counting down the days, but I don’t think it will win me any awards. I really do love them, but I don’t think I will ever grow out of being excited for the holidays to be here! So good night to you all, and wish me look on my ride tomorrow with Mr Bones! I will get out of this mental block, I will, I will! Lekker Slaap ! xxxx

Busy Weekend!

Saturday

Oh my goodness, today has been soooo busy.. i feel like it is Sunday and everything that happened this morning was yesterday!

It all kicked off with a trail ride with Wendy, and the sisters Elzaan and Jolene. I rode Blue for the very first time as well. He is a tiny little pony that is just a pocket rocket! I absolutely loved riding him this morning! Everyone else is trotting and that guy is cantering along, he is my new favourite and I plan on riding him every day now! He apparently bucks a lot when he is excited but he was really great! After, we dropped the girls off at the dam to join their parents who were on a fishing trip. We took Murphy along with us for a swim in the river, he loved it. Ali has said if we have time tomorrow then we are going to take the horses over to the dam and have a ride there, I actually cant wait! Amaaziiinng.

After that Edith and I walked the dogs up on the hills, we are trying to get the dogs out every day because the Great Danes are very fat and they all need the exercise as well as us! Then, it was lunch, and just enough time to relax before we went out and did animals....to find none of the workers apart from Little Marcus were there. They were all no shows and werent answering their phones. Most likely they were all drunk. It is absolutely ridiculous when they do this, especially after all Ali does for them. We were meant to head into town before 4, but with nobody to help, we didnt get away until after 5. We had to head in to give an injection to one of the horses that Ali gave away. She is called Sapphire and needs the African Horse sickness jab, so Ali always goes out to give them it. On our way in we visited the Welgemoeds and had a cool drink with them until we realised it was getting dark. Oh! And shame, we have a very ill baby goat again. Little Liam the goat is so weak, so very weak. We dont know what to do. We beemered him all the way to town and tried to feed him at the Welgemoeds, but he wont have any of it. We are really worried about him. He is such a cute baby goat, and his mum is a first time Mum, so she isnt the best and is a bit dozey to be honest. We will keep trying with him, fingers crossed he has the same guardian angel as Socke.

We didnt get back until really late, hence why Saturdays blog is coming to you on Sunday, apologies!

Sunday!

Well, the ride to the dam did not go exactly as we would have hoped. And when I say that, I mean it was a complete disaster! Our logic was, that we were going to leave Maverick, who is the usual lead horse, and for Ali to take Mandla instead, as that would mean we could all go swimming in the dam with the horses, which is something Maverick would not have the patience for. Now, Mandla, in Zulu means "Brave", and after today Mandla, Blue, and Duncan should all be renamed to "Glue factory", "Dog meat", and "Bullet to the Head", since that is what they are going to get and where they are going after todays outing. Duncan wouldnt lead and fought Edith the whole way, Mandla went on strike, and Blue just had his head up their backsides the whole way. In the end, after several failed attempts, we decided that it just wasnt safe on the roads with the trucks when the horses were acting like this, so we turned back. And man, SUDDENLY, those horses had fuel in them. Blue belted it back to the yard like Seabiscuit. I have never gone so fast in all my life! That little pony can move!

Anyway , it is better we left it since we got caught in the rain on the way back and it poured it down! So, that was our ride to the dam! We didnt get there, but we still got wet! After drying off, Edith and I sat down to veg out infront of Ugly Betty.This is what Sundays are for, being lazy and doing nothing haha! Then at 11am, the Welgemoeds came round for a picnic to the dam! Ah it was such a wonderul day! We had delicious food and drink, Ali and I swam with Blue and Duncan in the dam, Edith and I had mud fights with the kids and swam about, then I just passed out on the bank and had a midday siesta. It was so lekker. We used the algae to make fake hair out of it and pretend we were posing for a Loreal add. Some of the pictures from today are hilarious, Edith is laughing away and Mene the little girl is in tears haha. I also managed to make JL cry but splatting him with mud when he emerged from the water....I couldnt help but laugh. Hey! All is fair in Mud and War!

After, we had to get all the animals done as fast as possible because there was a storm coming in, and a HUGE crack of lightening and thunder. It was so loud and so close that I couldnt believe it. I have never heard something that loud before! And in the end we all had coffee and I have just emerged from the bath. I dont think i will ever get the mud out of my hair....

Lekker Slaap all, another school week is starting tomorrow! 

My new running buddy

I have now got a new running buddy in the form of Edith. Now, I always like to think that since I run at all, I should instantly be put in the "fit and healthy category", personally I think the fact that I even drag my sorry ass out on a run at the end of the day qualifies me for some kind of an award. But, I am always reminded of just how slow I do run when i run with anyone. Today was a prime example, Edith did high knees, zig zags along the road and ran backwards to keep herself at my pace. I just want to say that she has youth on her side......git. But, on the bright side, I cut my time down by ten minutes! Mainly because I am far too stubborn to stop running when i have competition......it may have killed me, and at the end of the run I had to literally lie down on the grass outside the stables hyperventilating. Edith and I now have a plan that she is going to get her six pack back and I am going to be happy if I get any kind of pack, one would do, I am not fussy! So bye bye chocolate, hello delicious DELICIOUS salad....

The kids got pony rides this morning, followed by breakfast at the picnic area and a swim in the river before coming back to school and doing education time. For some reason, the kids have started saying "Thank you my dear" whenever they get anything like juice of me, it is very weird to have a three year old call you "dear", so I told them my name is Rosie, not dear. This did not help as they now just say "Thank you my dear Rosie". This is definitely a sign that I clearly command respect among them haha. 

This evening we had new baby goats! Spot had a little boy and girl, and oh my gosh they are sooooo cute! They have little pink noses and look like little piglets. I have named the girl baby goat Joy after my Mum and Gran as that is both of their middle names. She definitely looks like a Joy! I have left the boy to be named by Edith, she seems to be swaying towards naming him "Hope", but I said that the other goats would make fun of him for having such a feminine name. But I will keep you posted on Joys brothers name when we get one! 

Other than that this is pretty much all for today, other than the trail ride we all did this morning which was loveeely! I am going to go watch more Ugly Betty. I introduced Edith to it yesterday night and she loooooves it now, so we are working our way through the season. I am going to hobble off and watch it now since the run has made me hobble like John Wayne. Lekker Slaap everyone xxxxxx

King Kong

Today has been sooooo busy! The kids were in full on screaming mode today due to the heat, and the fact that up until this evening we have still had no toilet, so they are having poo parties down in the bushes that means they take forever to come back to the classroom from Thankfully George has managed to recreate a brand new toilet today which kind of looks like the iron throne from Game Of Thrones. Ali says it looks hideous but I think it looks kind of cool haha. 

Ediths Dad and family friends stopped by as well today before heading off to Botswana, so she got to spend a little time with them this afternoon which I am sure was nice for her. She is only 18, I for one am very impressed at her being her so young, even if I am mistaken for a child on most days, I am still a mature *ish* 23 year old hahahahahaha. Ah sorry, just had to laugh at the idea of me being mature, I know many of my friends from back home would laugh reading that, most of them cant even believe I cook, and none of them can believe people actually eat what I serve. I am someone who cant cook eggs, I could burn salad...or water! Anyway! After school Ali decided that it is now time for my training to go to the next level....driving Blow Bull. Blow Bull is this ancient jeep, probably used in a desert war at some point, and man, I am going to have the muscles of Arnold Schwarzenegger by the end of my stay here, the thing turns like I dont even know what, but you feel it ! I was very hurt though when the kids realised I would be the one driving them home that they all started laughing hysterically.....It is not funny! I am an awesome driver! But then they were deathly silent and I am pretty sure they thought they were gonna die, one of them even used my pony tail as a breaking mechanism. 

After, Edith and I had the job of going to town. I friggen love town, I love going. I do not love getting a list the length of my arm to get stuff though. Especially when I get asked for stuff that I have no idea what it is. Like Jiggie snacks, or in this case today I got asked for 2kg of King Kong. So, there was me, all ready to ask everyone in Otees where I could find King Kong, when thankfully Ali told me that he meant King Corn. That would have been embarrassing..... 

So, when we got to town, I pulled into the garage to get myself a cool drink and this guy asks me if I will give him a lift into town to buy a battery and he will give me money if I will. I just told him I was really sorry but I didnt own the car I was driving and I had to be responsible for it, but that I was sorry. He ended up swearing going "This is why no one f*cking likes South Africa, black, whites, no one f*cking likes it, because no one will do a f*cking thing for any other f*cker". I just stared at him and went "Yeah, OK" and then turned to Edith and said loudly enough for him to hear, "Because he is making a great case for being taken int town". Then, we have an issue with the terminals, it is not a big deal, you just need to tweak them on the car or it will cut out. So, after the lovely convo with the man, the car died, and he, interpreting that we couldn't fix it suddenly went "Dont f*cking ask me for any help, I am a fully trained mechanic, but dont bloody ask me", so I simply smiled at him and went "OK" and we got the car started in a few seconds. We are officially awesome, and we drove away. Some people REALLY need to work on their people skills, maybe he was dropped on his head as a baby, who knows, and more importantly, who cares haha. 

In town we got our jobs done and picked up Georges wife Anna and her son Manuel from town, shame, they waited for so long for us and I felt so bad, so i bought them a cool drink and a box of biscuits to keep them going, since I am pretty sure they missed lunch and it was getting on for dinner time! Manuel is such a little fatty, he is too cute!

Anyway, so we have arrived home, unpacked, and I have made dinner *edible dinner*. I am now going to sit and watch the Monty Roberts join up DVD so I can reconnect with Mr Bones, and an episode of Ugly Betty since my Mum sent me the first season in the post! So excited now to watch it! Teehee! She also sent me another mountain of chocolate. I will share it with the children just so I dont feel like such a pig! 
Lekker slaap everyone, tomorrow it is FRIDAAAAY HURRAHHHH! night xxxxxxxxxxxx

Day trip to Dullstroom Bird of prey centre!

So, today we had a school trip out to Dullstroom bird of prey centre! The kids were so excited, and oh so proud when they turned up in their uniforms all ready to go ! It was hilarious when we got to the gas station at one point so that they could go to the toilet and they all asked "home?", as if they thought the whole trip out was to take them to a toilet ! Haha, well I guess since ours was completely demolished it would make sense to them that we would show them a real working toilet..... 

It started off cloudy but it burnt away into the most glorious day we have had in ages! Sadly, my English legs were not up to the sun. My pale milky white legs have only ever heard about the sun and so they just couldnt survive in todays sun. I now have bright red thighs that are burning into my jodphurs like radium. Ouuuccch! That will teach me to go out without sun screen on! And by the time I put some on, I already knew it was too late. Like a ticking time bomb. So, yeah, the front of my legs look like a red traffic light and the backs look like vanilla ice cream. I look like an unfinished picasso painting, it is NOT pretty! 

Anyway! Back to the day at hand ! We arrived at the centre and the kids finally got to see what an owl and eagle are! So that is going to make the doing the alphabet a lot easier when we say "O for Owl". It was so good to just get them out and introduce them to all these different sights and experiences!

We had lots of drama as well. When we were all seated waiting for the show to start, the lady in charge Anna came out with her beautiful little falcon Norman. Now, Norman was doing all his tricks beautifully and swooping and diving for the kids when suddenly we all saw a huge bird of prey, foreign to the centre approach. In about five seconds we all thought Norman was dead, Anna was screaming for Norman to return, running down the bank to try and get him while this bird tried to attack him. We really thought we were gonna have to watch as Norm got dragged away, but thankfully he survived and Norman shall live for another day! 

Next, they brought out a lovely barn owl who only weighs 29Og! I cant believe they are so light, and when Anna asked if anyone wanted to try feeding him, I had my hand up straight away haha, stuff the kids, I was at the front of the line for that! Haha! He was such a beauty and I kind of felt like I was in some kind of tropical Harry potter with my own owl, coz I am a tiny bit of a geek ....Now, as soon as the kids saw that I had done, ALL of them wanted to do it! Their little faces were amazed when they saw the bird up close, it was so sweet!

Next, out came a crow, who did all kinds of tricks like pick up litter and turn over cups to find food, he was so smart....and then he found a lizard and ate it in front of our kids and Wendy's kids, including two year old Savannah who started crying, so we had to say that the lizard was in fact made out of jello and all part of the act.....oops.....poor lizard......

After, the kids were able to play on the centers jungle gym and they had so much fun! Especially when I got on the seesaw and was able to balance out pretty much the whole class with my own weight! Haha. I am the equivalent of a about seven African kids.....maybe I should cut down on the chocolate....get it down to five kids.....

But, all in all, the kids seemed to love it. Anyway, on the way back we bought them some chips and then drama errupted when we heard crying from the back. We pulled over and went to see what was happening and patience was crying away, and the rest told us that percy had thrown her special juice bottle out of the window onto the road. He was in huge trouble and got told off badly. So, you can imagine how bad we all felt when offloading the kids, that we found her bottle and the lid in the back....so they made the whole thing up and poor percy got a telling off for absolutely nothing! I plan on having a very serious talk with them tomorrow. They absolutely LOVE telling on eachother, even if they have no idea what they are saying. poor percy ..... I must give him a hug tomorrow. 

Anyway, we have a HUGE storm coming in, it stretched all the way to pretoria, so we are bracing ourselves for a heck of a storm in about five minutes. Having to rush this blog coz this power is probably going to die very very very soon! Darkness for us tonight haha. Anyway, night night, Lekker Slaap! We lost the toilet in the last storm, fingers crossed we dont lose the school in this one ! Lekker Slaap! xxxxx

"Mam, the toilet is broken"

This, ladies and gentleman is what our school toilet now looks like after the storm we had last night. As you can see, you can imagine my surprise when I sent Sara on her way to the toilet and she came back saying "mam, mam, the toilet is broken" and I went to check it out to find this! No kidding Sara, I think the toilet is more than broken, it is literally decimated! I cant believe we didn't notice ! And man, the kids had a field day, because as soon as they saw the dilemma, they suddenly ALL needed the toilet. And so they all had a party down in the bushes together, and they took their sweet time getting back to school! 

The damage of the storm is insane! The thunder reverberated through the house, tiles have come off, leaks are everywhere, the pool has had to be drained, beds are soaked, it is ridiculous! AND WE HAVE NO TOILET! Edith and I also had to learn a very tough lesson today, the lesson is "shut the windows of the school every time you leave or you might find that school is completely flooded after a storm". Essentially, we are idiots, and if this was a real job, we would be fired. We are the bankers who caused the economic crisis in England, we are the irresponsible idiots that resulted in us all having to clean up school until 3pm today. We have learnt a tough lesson today, we shall not make it again. In penance for my mistake I offered Ali my bar of very fancy Lindt chocolate. I think she appreciated it, and may be slightly on her way to forgiving me haha, no one can resist creamy hazelnut goodness! 

On a brighter note, we had two new baby boy goats born today. Born on the side of the road in the rockery under the sign for Lydenrust sign, like the cool cats they are! They are so unbelievably cute! And we have yet more names to come up with! Edith and I have already named the last two twins Heidi and Gunter hahaha all in honor of her German Heritage! Now, names for these two cuties. Which are Liam and Luke! They are so cute! I am going to miss goats so much when I go home, they are greatly underestimated animals. They are awesome!

In other news, I dont know if any of you remember me talking about a beautiful white, pure breed Alsatian that is down by the dam where we fetch the kids. He is positively gorgeous, but he has been chained up for two months now, in rain, wind, and blistering sun, he has been chained up, alone and scared. And last night with the storm, he had obviously gone frantic and ran up and down, wrapping the chain harder and harder round his neck. Ali found him this morning almost dead trying to breathe. She tried to get the chain off but it was so tight that she couldnt even get her little finger under it to free him. She was sure that the poor thing was going to die in her arms. She has been in tears all morning over it. She managed to release the dog eventually but had to leave him. We intend on going back tomorrow and buying the dog off them because seeing this beautiful animal being abused every day is just too much to bear. It is truly disgusting, especially for all of us here who love animals so much 

Finally, I am SO excited for tomorrow! We are talking the kids to a bird of prey show in Dullstroom! I have been excited about this for weeks! I have wanted to go for agesss! And now, thanks to them inviting us we are on our way! I cant wait! The kids will love it! They wont believe their luck either, after being to Spur only a couple of weeks a go as well! But it is so good for them to have these experiences! I mean, my goodness, Charlotte, Sara, and Maggi had a fit over the hand dryer in the toilets at Spur! These kids need as much exposure to this stuff as possible! So I am off to bed so I am bright eyed and bushy tailed for our day out tomorrow! pray that this is the end of storms, though I dont think it will be ! Lekker Slaap xxxxx